The Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford has defended the decision to hire a doctor who worked with Rabobank when the Dutch team were embroiled in a doping scandal.

Dr Geert Leinders left Rabobank in 2009, after being part of the team when Michael Rasmussen was kicked off the 2007 Tour de France and when Thomas Dekker tested positive for blood-boosting agent EPO.

Brailsford revealed that Team Sky are investigating Leinders' past and acknowledged that there may be a "reputational risk".

Leinders is not with Team Sky at the Tour, which Bradley Wiggins led entering Wednesday's 10th stage, and works for 80 days a year with the British squad, which has a zero tolerance attitude to doping.

Brailsford and Team Sky reconsidered their medical policy – initially no practitioners with a background in cycling were to be hired – after the death of the carer Txema González following a bacterial infection contracted during the 2010 Vuelta a España, citing the need for specialist knowledge to put the riders first.

Brailsford told www.cyclesportmag.com: "I categorically, 100% say that there's no risk of anything untoward happening in this team since he [Leinders] has been with us. I've seen nothing and neither have the full-time medics. I'd put my life on it.

"He's done nothing wrong here, but we have a reputational risk. This is not about doping. We're pushing the guys to their limits, so we need to look after them. It's about genuine medical practice.

"We have had discussions with him and once we've established the facts, we will take the appropriate action."